Today we’d like to introduce you to Judi Jorge.
Judi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a life-long, primarily self-taught artist who studied at Montserrat’s program of continuing education, The Museum School, and with various local artists. My style is realistic, and I work in acrylic and graphite. I also do more whimsical, illustrative pieces in art marker and colored pencil.
My mother was always dabbling in the art so grew up drawing, painting, and reading about art. My earliest memories are of looking at a beautifully illustrated fairy tale book set we had and trying to figure out how to recreate the art saw! For me, painting for is the act of capturing light, perspective, and color that evoke memory and feeling. The influence of my artistic heroes ~ Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, and Grandma Moses ~drives my work.
I worked as a studio artist for a Marblehead studio when my kids were little. Life got in the way and sidetracked my ability to pursue my art seriously for the most part until 5 years ago. Since then have worked pretty much every day, continuing to learn and expand my toolbox.
I live and work in Beverly with my husband Fernando and grown kids Joe and Julie. I also do commission work- primarily portraits of people and animals, teach painting and drawing, and am mad about guinea pigs!
Has it been a smooth road?
When my kids were in third and first grades, the art studio I worked for outsourced my job so was forced to go to work for the public school system full time. With work and family responsibilities, art went very much on the back burner, although I did as much as time allowed. My divorce in 2007 forced mine into a year-round job, which further limited my time.
Remarrying in 2012 and my kids growing up freed up more time, so that in 2013 I was able to start up Creations By Jorge. My art was mostly craft-based, decorative painting, and I had some success. But serious painting was my goal. Though I made good money with craft shows, it wasn’t the environment for me. I started taking on commissions, and in a very short time was focused on painting and graphite work alone.
In 2016 I was able to reduce my “day job” work significantly, leaving me more time to pursue my art!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Creations By Jorge story. Tell us more about the business.
I have a very different point of view! While realism is my niche, I try to present things in a different, less conventional way. My personal art generally features something offbeat ~ a view of the interior of a lighthouse instead of the traditional take. A focus on light and perspective, almost more so than the subject.
My commissions, generally people or animals, try to capture the details that define personalities. With a dedication, again, to realism and starting with a classical approach, my love of all things illustrative come through. (I hope!)
Contact Info:
- Address: 118 1/2 Bridge Street
- Website: http://creationsbyjorge.wixsite.com/creations-by-jorge
- Phone: 9788106775
- Email: GUINEAPIGJUDE@ROCKETMAIL.COM
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/creationsbyjudijorge
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/CreationsByJorge
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
Flo Campbell
September 3, 2018 at 12:52 am
One thing Judi didn’t mention was her ability to illustrate stories!! When she worked with me at O’Maley Middle School, we were reading a novel which was difficult for some of our low readers to imagine and comprehend as it jumped from present time back to Ancient Egypt. (Under the Mummy’s Spell by Kate McMullen. Judi painstakingly illustrated each chapter in the book for these students to better comprehend the text. The detail and whimsy in her pencil drawings is captivating. The book is now out of print…but we have many copies and couple them with Judi’s illustrations to this day!